The Chicago Bears are trading their first-overall pick for this year's NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers for the Panthers' ninth and 61st picks this year, a first-rounder for 2024, a second-rounder for 2025 and wide receiver DJ Moore, according to ESPN on Friday.

The Panthers finished the 2022 NFL season with a 7-10 record, missing the playoffs after using three different starting quarterbacks (QB): P.J. Walker, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. Apparently, none of them is the team's answer for calling the play.

With the No. 1 pick, the Panthers can select a young promising QB among Will Levis of the University of Kentucky, Bryce Young of the University of Alabama or C.J. Stroud of Ohio State University on April 27 when the NFL Draft begins. ESPN revealed that the team was interested in Levis last season, but was also impressed by Young and Stroud at the combine.

The Panthers had the first-overall pick twice before. They traded it in 1995 with the Cincinnati Bengals for the fifth and 36th picks before drafting QB Kerry Collins with the former. He played four seasons in the team and was named for Pro Bowl once there in 1996.

The Panthers had the No. 1 draft pick for the second time in 2011 and they used it to select QB Cam Newton. He played 10 seasons in the team as a three-time Pro-Bowler and was named the NFL Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player of the Year and selected into the First-team All-Pro in 2015. The Panthers went to the Super Bowl that season for the second time in franchise history, but lost to the Denver Broncos.

As part of the deal, the Panthers will send Moore to the Bears. Having been selected by the team with the 24th pick in 2018, Moore achieved over 1,100 receiving yards in three of the past five seasons. The Bears need him to fill in the wide receiver position because their best one for the job, Darnell Mooney, had only 493 receiving yards and two touch downs in 12 games last season.

Trading the first-overall pick away also means that the bears will continue to trust Justin Fields as their QB. In his second season in the league, he completed 160 carries to rush 1,143 yards, which is only 64 yards away from setting a new single-season QB rushing record.

"His athletic ability and ability to create explosive plays were special," the Bears general manager Ryan Poles said of Fields. "Now, what we've had discussions about, and I talked about it openly, like, he's got to take the next step in his game and I'm excited to see that because I think he's going to."